No Rule is Our Rule

No Rule is Our Rule

2023, 73 min, Wen Hui, Eiko Otake, Yiru Chen

No Rule Is Our Rule is a story of friendship between two independent female artists and their body memories each willingly carry. In January 2020, New York based, interdisciplinary performing artist Eiko Otake arrived in Beijing to visit Wen Hui, a Chinese choreographer and filmmaker. Eight years apart, Eiko grew up in postwar Japan and Wen during the Cultural Revolution. They planned to visit each other for a month to converse and collaborate. The surge of COVID-19 abruptly cut off Eiko's visit and the pandemic has so far made Wen's visit to the USA impossible but not the collaboration. Looking back on the video diaries they shot without a script, Eiko and Wen continued their dialogue on Zoom, sharing past works that form a deeper understanding of their circumstantial differences and characteristic similarities. No Rule Is Our Rule has been selected by Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, Munich New Wave Film Festival, and WRPN Women's International Film Festival, and the film won Best Feature Documentary at the Japan International Film Festival.

The screening will be followed by a conversation between Eiko Otake and Merián Soto, a Puerto Rican dancer, choreographer, video, and improvisation artist.

The screening is organized by Asian Arts Initiative and co-presented with 2023 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival (PAAFF) as part of their public programs.